The Difference In Awakening
by queenusagi
Summary: The Butterfly Effect is a concept that small causes can have large effects. When one person decides to take a left rather than the right, time shifts and changes to accommodate it. The people impacted: Naru Osaka and Usagi Tsukino. Butterfly Effect AU.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, so this is the beginning of a short multi-chapter story I'm working on, which is a small part of a big AU I'm planning out. I'm not good at tackling big things, so I'm starting small and going from there. This is possibly going to be around three chapters long.

* * *

"Naruuuu-channnn, how could youuuuuu?"

No one in the classroom reacts to the yelling of Usagi Tsukino besides Naru Osaka. It was a few months into the school year and everyone in the classroom was already used to the loud girl and her various outbursts, typically aimed at or around Naru, her best friend.

"I cannot believe," Usagi slams the classroom door open and rushes over to Naru's desk. "you didn't tell me that your mom was having a sale!" She pulls up a chair and sits down, slapping her hands to her face as she sobbed.

Naru lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "What are you talking about, Usagi-chan?" She asks, grabbing a piece of her lunch meat with her fingers and she puts it close to Usagi's face. Usagi moves her face enough to see the food and opens her mouth. Naru tosses the food inside, and taps Usagi's face affectionately.

Usagi swallows the food and grabs Naru's napkin to wipe her face. "Umino gave me a flyer for your mom's store."

"A flyer?"

"Yeah! Let me just," Usagi leans over and begins digging through her bag. "It says you're having a weekend sale," she pulls out a few of her notebooks and puts it on her own desk, "savings up to 75 percent off."

"What?" Naru raises an eyebrow. A sale? This was the first time she's heard about this.

"Dang it! Where did I put that flyer?" Usagi grumbles as she goes through her bag. "Aha!" Usagi whips out a scrunched up piece of paper, "Here, see!" Usagi hands Naru the flyer, and begins putting her books away.

A white flyer with her family's jewelry store written on it in black characters. SALE was written in English over a red bubble next to the family name. Under the store's name was GREAT DEALS, with the translation written in Hiragana under along with a list of things that were discounted. Surprisingly, it was almost everything they had in the store.

"My mom didn't tell me we were having a sale," Naru says, her eyebrows scrunching together. Her mom always keeps her updated on the events their store was having. It was her mom's attempt at getting her to learn from her and become a successful business woman. "You said Umino gave you this?" She asks slowly as she reads it over once more.

"Mhm," Usagi nods as she pulls out her lunch and places it on Naru's desk, opposite of Naru's own lunch. "He gave me the flyer this morning on my way to school, right before the road meets where we begin walking together." She opens her lunchbox and places a napkin on her lap. "I didn't really care until a few minutes ago I heard some older girls talking about your store and the sale."

Naru turns and looks out the window, and she sees Umino standing outside the building with a large box, filled with what she assumes to be the flyers. "Weirdo," she whispers, and folds the flyer and slides it into her desk. "Whatever, I'll just ask my mom later."

"Right!" Usagi nods, "Let's ask after we go to my house after school together!"

Naru looks at Usagi, noting how the way her eyes sparkle and the way she says the word together. "You..." Naru gives Usagi an annoyed look, "you didn't ask your mom permission to sleepover."

"Ahaha, well..." Usagi laughs nervously, scratching the back of her head.

"Usagi-chan!" Naru huffs, glaring at the other girl.

"She's nicer to you than she is me! She'll say yes if you ask because she likes you so much! You're her favorite person!"

"Ugh."

"Sorry, Naru-chan!"

Naru rolls her eyes, but still gives Usagi a small smile, assuring her that she's not angry. She can be annoyed with her later, her mom is the one that's on her mind.

* * *

Please tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, I've finished this chapter.

* * *

"You didn't tell me you did so well on your test, Usagi-chan!" Naru exclaims as she looks over the test Usagi handed her. An 81 was written on top of the paper, a smiley face drawn next to it. The highest score she's seen Usagi get since they've become friends.

"Yes I did! I told you once we got the tests back." Usagi huffs, pulling her duffle up over her shoulder. "You were just," huff "too busy staring out," huff "the window! Oooww, Naru-chan, please help me!"

The girls stop walking, going to the side of a building to stay out of the way of any people who needed to get through. Naru grabs a strap of the duffle bag, and slides it down onto the sidewalk. "Why'd you pack so much stuff?" Naru asks as she looks at the duffle bag. It was overstuffed, too full for one weekend sleepover.

Usagi lets a sigh of relief as the weight is taken off of her and rolls her shoulder. After a few seconds, she looks at Naru and smiles excitedly, "I wanted to be prepared for the best weekend of my life! Two days and three nights with my best friend!"

It was the sleepover the two have been planning for weeks. They'd get takeout, do each other's' makeup, and stay up all night together.

"It would've been ruined if you didn't do so well on your test." Naru gives Usagi a look, scolding her again for not asking her mother permission to sleep over until literally last minute.

Usagi smiles sheepishly, "but I did! And it's all thanks to you! If you didn't help me, I woulda bombed it! But I didn't, so mama gave me permission to sleepover, my allowance, and some extra as a reward!"

As much as Usagi complained about her mom, Naru knew she was nice. If she asked her mom last minute for a weekend sleepover and extra money, her mom would've laughed and told her to plan her money better and to schedule an appointment for said sleepover at least three weeks in advanced. Which is exactly what she did to make sure it would be the best weekend of their lives.

"What are you going to do with the money?" Naru asks, and grabs a hold of one of the straps. Usagi grabs the other and the two continue their walk. "We've already got enough money saved up for pizza and chicken wings from that cool new restaurant that opened a few months back."

"I'm going to spend it on the je- oh, wait! Why were you staring out the window during class? You didn't even notice when I tried to show you my test!" Usagi says, remembering the topic at hand before the sleepover came up.

"I was staring out the window?" Naru blinks. She didn't realize she had zoned out during class.

Usagi frowns and tilts her head to the side as she inspects Naru's face. "Yeah, you were. You didn't even write any notes for the day."

That would explain why Naru couldn't recall what happened during class. Class was a blur, the only thing on her mind was how weird her mom appeared to be behaving. She didn't see her this morning before school, no breakfast was on the table, and now Umino is handing out flyers for a sale? It was unusual. She was used to breakfast being a maybe in the morning, but at least her mom leaves a few poptarts in the toaster for her. Why would she have Umino of all people hand out flyers?

Poke.

Naru jumps back, her hand letting go of her strap of the duffle bag. It slams to the ground. Usagi stares at Naru, her hand in the air where Naru's cheek just was. "Naru-chan..."

"Sorry," Naru sighs and runs a hand through her bangs. "I'm just thinking about my mom. I'm just worried. But it's fine."

Tension is in the air, something Usagi wants to pop, but not now. Naru looks stressed, which it's probably being made worse by not knowing what's going on. "Okay, Naru-chan," Usagi smiles softly, "let's go to your house and we can order the pizza."

It's oddly silent for a moment before Naru nods. The moment of tension dissolves as Naru picks up the strap and the two continue walking. They don't talk, Naru keeping her eyes forward while Usagi keeps her eyes on Naru. They pass the crosswalk, making their way into the Juban Shopping District. They unconsciously walk closer together as they pass crowds of people, stopping only when they hear a familiar voice.

"Sale! Sale!"

"Umino?"

"Oh! Hi Naru-chan, hi Usagi-san!" It takes a bit of maneuvering, but the girls manage to make their way through the crowd without causing any injuries with the duffle bag. In the center of the crowd stood Umino, standing on top of a stool, handing out what Naru recognizes as the flyer Usagi showed her during lunch.

"What are you doing with those flyers?" Naru asks, handing Usagi her strap and taking a step forward to grab a flyer out of Umino's hand. The women he was handing flyers to walk away, looking at their flyers in excitement. Usagi takes the chance to drag the duffle bag out of the center of the crowd, leaving Naru with Umino.

"Your mom gave me them, telling me to give these away!" Umino says proudly, handing a short girl with silver hair a flyer. Naru notices how her expression sours up as she looks at the flyer before walking away. "She said if I gave away them all, she'd give me a watch as a reward."

Naru's eyebrows crunch up, her mom would never make promises like that. Throughout her twelve years of life, her mother has never once attempted to bribe someone, even in that way. She didn't even like the idea of children coming into her store. It was something she's heard her mother talk about to her friend after they kicked out some teenagers who tried to steal some earrings. "When did she do this?" Naru asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"This morning!" Umino bends over to grab the last of his flyers, and calls out to a group of older woman walking by. Once they grab the flyers, he turns back to Naru, "I was walking to school and she stopped me by the collar and asked what in the store I liked the most."

Naru blinks. That's definitely not her mom's way of doing thing. "Oh..." She turns and looks back at Usagi, who was sitting on a bench, watching some tourists. "Well, uh, we've gotta go."

"Bye, Naru-chan! Tell Usagi-san I said goodbye!" Umino waves, and Naru nods, walking over to Usagi and tapping her on the forehead. Usagi looks up and smiles.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Naru grabs a strap and nods to Usagi, who lefts her side. They tug the duffle bag up and begin walking.

"What did Umino tell you?" Usagi asks as she loops her right arm with Naru's left arm. It's awkward, but they manage to do so without dropping anything.

Naru lets out a sigh of frustration, and shakes her head. "It's even more confusing. I'll tell you everything he said when we get to my room." For some reason, she feels like discussing it anywhere else would make the situation worse.

Usagi nods, and the girls turn the corner before they're stopped by a large amount of people inside and outside Naru's mom's shop. "What the?"

The scene reminds Usagi of the American Christmas movies she'd watch with her papa. The day after Thanksgiving, early in the morning, adults would get up and go to the stores before they open to stand outside and wait to the first inside. Once the doors open, the long line would turn into a vicious mob. Now that Usagi thinks about it, she didn't get to see much after the main character attacked the elderly woman for a microwave, because her mama came in and shut it off.

Thankfully, no one was fighting.

The jewelry in the store shined, the price tags with "S*A*L*E" shined even more. Rings that should be 400,000 en were marked down to literally half. Necklaces that weren't allowed out of the glass without the supervision of Naru's mother and a security guard were being handed around like it was playdough at a school yard.

Naru found it unsettling.

Placing the duffle bag in a corner of the store, away from the crowds, Usagi and Naru link arms and walk over to Naru's mom, who was shouting through a mega phone, "Thank you all for coming today! Welcome! Welcome to our store! Please go ahead and try them on! Welcome! Everything's on sale!"

"She's really into this," Naru whispers, and Usagi nods. She's known Naru's mom for a while, and she's never seen her act like this.

"Maybe she's just feeling business orientated today?" Usagi whispers back, watching as Naru's mom was practically shoving a necklace onto a woman's neck.

"Mama," Naru calls for her mom after she finishes putting the necklace on the woman.

Her mother turns to look at her and smiles. "Welcome home!" She exclaims, her heels clicking as she walks over to Naru and Usagi. "Oh, who's this?"

Naru and Usagi blink, turning to each other then back at Naru's mom. "Mama, this is Usagi. My best friend…" Usagi doesn't flinch when Naru squeezes her arm, managing to hold back a frown at Naru's mom.

"Oh, oh! I didn't recognize it was you, Usagi! It's so nice of you to come!" She lifts her head arms and motions around the store, "It's a bit crowded but please take you time and look around."

Usagi nods.

"And because you're Naru-chan's friend, I'll give you an even bigger discount!"

"Really? All right, score!" Usagi's eyes shrine and she follows Naru's mom as she goes around the counter. Naru follows, keeping a tight hold onto Usagi's arm.

"Do you like diamonds? I bet you do! How about this ring?" Naru's mom brings out a box and opens it. Inside is a ring with a beautiful diamond on top. Usagi and Naru both gasp.

"That's so beautiful."

"That's so expensive."

Naru and Usagi look at each other and giggle. Beautiful and expensive did tend to exist together.

Naru's mom laughs, wagging her finger, "Expensive it is, 500,000 en but I'll give it to you for 30,000 en."

"30,000 en for 500,000!" The two girls shout in unison. Before they can even say anything else, they're both shoved out of the way, and everyone in the store runs towards the counter. Naru grabs Usagi's arm and they run into the corner of the store while Usagi exclaims that the Christmas movies were right

"Jeez," Naru huffs, placing her hands on her knees. "That's just ridiculous." Usagi nods in agreement. "Come on, let's go upstairs. I can't stand to be in here anymore."

* * *

Whew, the story is halfway done.

Please tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Usagi lost track of how many chicken wings she had eaten during the course of the last hour. There were so many bones on the trash plate. She didn't know how many were of the bones came from Naru and how many were from her. She didn't think she could figure it out if she tried.

"Naru-chan," Usagi moans, wiping hot sauce off of her cheek, "That is so good, but I don't think I can eat anymore."

Naru chokes on her piece of chicken, hacking for a minute while Usagi jumps from her side of the bed and begins to hit her back. Once the coughing fit ends, Naru turns to Usagi with wide eyes.

"I can't believe I've lived to see the day that Usagi turns down food."

"Hey, don't mock me! I just ate so much." Usagi grumbles, pushing herself off of Naru's soft bed and onto her feet. "Let's put the rest of the food away when you're finished." Usagi grabs the plate of bones, some half eaten pizza crusts, and napkins and collects them together.

As much as Naru would love to mock Usagi some more, she'd had to admit that she was feeling the effects of eating so much food. The smell of greasy pizza was beginning to make her stomach turn. "Alright, Usagi-chan."

Naru packs up the food, placing the chicken wings on top of the pizza box. There's still a lot of food left, and even more unopened take out on Naru's desk.

"Make sure you hide the food," Usagi says as she tries to take another chicken wing. Naru slaps her hand away, and she frowns. "Please!"

"No. You just said you don't think you can eat anymore." Naru scolds.

Usagi frowns and stomps out of Naru's room, trash in hand. Naru can hear Usagi's loud footsteps and her grumbles as she goes down the hallway into the kitchen. Once she hears the sound of trash landing into the bin, Naru blocks out Usagi and tapes up the food.

The food will be ready later that night and for the rest of the weekend. Usagi doesn't have to binge eat as if it's her last meal.

It's something Naru never understood about Usagi. She was always eating as if she had something growing inside her. It was the reason she was overweight, her body having more than just baby fat. She was fed by her mother often enough, there was always option for more- she doesn't get why she doesn't take her time.

Oh well, she's not going to ask Usagi and possibly upset her. Naru knows how rude Usagi's little brother is about her weight, she's not going to be another person that makes her cry over something so small.

With her hands on the large pizza box, and all the containers on top, Naru lifts the box and carries it into the kitchen. Inside was Usagi, holding the fridge door open for her. Naru sets the food down at the bottom of the fridge and begins moving things around to keep the food hidden.

Naru didn't have any reason to hide the food, especially since it was just her and her mom. Her mom never ate fast food, worried about her appearance and how her appearance impacted her reputation. But, Naru hid the food anyways, she liked to see how pleased Usagi looked whenever she did strange little requests for her.

Closing the fridge door, Naru turns to face Usagi and places her hands the other girl's wrists. "Let's do our nails, I got some cute glitter nail polish."

"Yes!"

* * *

Tick, tick, tick.

The clock read 11:32 and Naru's couldn't say she was tired. Normally she'd be asleep by now, but her mother hadn't come upstairs at all during the sleepover. Her mom loved talking to people, especially her friends. A lot of the time, it looked like an attempt to see what Naru does at school without directly asking. Her mom's a bit weird, but Naru liked that about her.

Tick, tick, tick.

"Naru-chan, are you finished with my hair?"

Naru blinks herself back into reality and laughs, "Sorry, almost finished." She pulls out a small hair tie and finishes up tying the ribbon into Usagi's pigtails. Once the pink ribbon was in, Naru pushed herself off of Usagi's back and handing Usagi the mirror.

Usagi looks into the mirror and her eyes brighten. The ribbons in her hair pop and their length give the illusion that her hair is much longer than it really is. Her hair only touched her shoulders, her mom always cutting her cut her hair before it got too long. The ribbons looked long enough that they'd reach her butt.

"It's so pretty! Thank you!" Usagi twirls one of the ribbons and smiles at Naru. Naru begins putting away the ribbons and Usagi stops her. "No, no, I've got to put ribbons in your hair!"

"No, no, not now!" Naru hushes Usagi, who folds her arm across her chest, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "You can do it later." When Usagi tries to object, Naru places her fingers on Usagi's lips. "I promise. I just want to go check on my mom." Naru rubs her arm anxiously, and laughs halfheartedly, "It's nearly midnight and I haven't heard her at all tonight."

Tick, tick, tick.

The expression on Naru's face makes Usagi's stomach curl. Naru has been a bit distracted all night, her mind somewhere else. She should've known it was her mom bothering her…

"Let's go, then!" Usagi says, a determined look on her face. She'll help Naru feel okay. She jumps up and grabs Naru by the wrist, pulling her off the bed. "We'll be like spies!"

Naru stares at Usagi for a moment before a smile bursts on her face. "Super secret spies."

After a few minutes of planning, which was mostly giggles and talk of catching her mom planning a surprise party, Naru leads the way downstairs from the house to the store. Naru walks on her toes while Usagi wore two pair of socks to conceal the sounds of her footsteps.

The door to the store barely makes a sound as it opens. Naru's mom has her back towards the door, giving the girls an opportunity to hide behind a jewelry case. Usagi and Naru place their fingers to their lips to remind the other to stay silent.

"Heheheh." The voice was deep, not the sweet voice of Naru's mother. "This is perfect." Naru could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up straight. She quietly looks over the case, and nearly stumbles back when she notices all the people lying on the floor of the store. "This is more than enough energy," Naru's mom says as she bends over and caresses the cheek of an unconscious girl.

Usagi nearly gasps when she stands.

"Once the clock hits twelve, you'll never wake up." Naru's mom whispers, a cruel smile forming on her face. "Your body will turn to dust, all of the energy drained from your body." She pinches the girl's cheek. "You humans are so weak, but your energy is so perfect."

Usagi and Naru look at the clock, which read 11:40. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes before everyone in the store turned to dust. Twenty minutes before everyone _died_.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Naru takes a step from behind the jewelry case and walks a few steps forward. She clears her throat. "Who are you?"

Naru's mom pauses, standing up straight but not looking at Naru. Naru could only see the woman's back. Somehow, it was worse to not see her face. A part of Naru wants to run, to grab Usagi's hand and hide upstairs. But a bigger part of Naru said to stay, that she'd regret it if she left.

"Naru-chan, go to bed." Naru's mom said after a moment.

"I said," Naru raises her voice, and Usagi hesitantly gets up from behind the jewelry case and stands next to her, "who are you." Naru clenches her fist when the woman doesn't reply. "Who are you and what did you do to my mom?"

Only the sound of breathing fills the room for a few long seconds.

"You foolish child. I gave you a chance to live."

"What—!" Naru isn't able to say anything more before she and Usagi are slammed into a pillar against the wall.

* * *

Hope y'all like it so far.


	4. Chapter 4

Usagi is in pain.

Her back hurts, her head aches, and each breath she takes is labored. She can't recall ever hurting this much.

All she wants to do is go home.

Eyelashes fluttering, Usagi's eyes squint as she tries to readjust to the darkness. In the darkness, she can see the monster with Naru's mom's face. Her head is turned completely backwards, like a creepy owl. Her eyes are looking straight, not at all in Usagi's direction. Usagi swallows a lump in her throat and shifts her eyes to the right.

Naru's body is smashed into the wall, the force of the thrown managed to break a good portion of the wall behind Naru. Usagi can only imagine how badly the wall looks.

Naru hiccups, causing Usagi to look at Naru's face. Her eyes are blinking wildly, looking around as if she's lost. She hiccups again and blood begins to drip from her nose.

Usagi holds back a cringe, wanting to do nothing more than help Naru. She barely notices warmth of blood sliding down her face, due to a cut on her forehead.

" _What_ are you?" Naru coughs, pushing herself away from the wall slightly. Usagi is surprised she's speaking, let along standing up, she can barely hold herself up.

The monster focuses on Naru, either not noticing Usagi or caring that she's awake. Her eyes are soft, and speaks slowly, like one would to a child, "I will give you one more chance."

"What?" said Naru.

"I always wanted a child." She says softly, a hand on her hip. "I could take you with me when I'm finished." The monster looks so familiar, a mother's comforting smile, but her voice sounds like nails against a chalkboard. It hurts Usagi's ears.

"I..." Naru stares at the monster who looks so much like her mother. Her eyes trail down, stopping at the twist of her neck, not human at all. "I would never," she pants, her knees shaking as if they're ready to collapse, "ever, go with a monster like you. You're a disgusting, revolting, so-."

The monster's eyes narrow, offended at being insulted. She hisses then stomps her foot down onto the ground.

Naru glares at the monster, but it doesn't stop her from leaning herself back into the Naru shaped hole in the wall, letting out a sigh of what sounds like relief. She looks like she's in so much pain.

"You rude little girl," she says. She lifts up her arm, ripping off her sleeve, and tosses it on the floor. After a few long seconds, her skin begins to bubble. The bubbles expand and pop, dripping onto the floor. The air smells rancid, Usagi's toes curling in disgust.

"I wonder what your mother did to raise such a rude child." She smirks, then glances in the direction of the door that leads to the basement. "I'll ask her when I'm finished with you." She smiles, the edges of her mouth extends to her eyes, an unnatural, not-human smile. It momentarily distracts Usagi from the bubbling mess on the floor, becoming a large puddle.

The bubbling puddle of gooey skin smells even worse when the mom-monster shakes her arm of the excess goo. She laughs, and says, "Rise."

The puddle begins to bubble like a pot of boiling water. It gets larger and larger, beginning to get a solid form. Within a matter of seconds, an arm grows from a bubble, then another, the air getting hotter.

Naru's nails dig against the wall, her body shaking. Usagi doesn't think she can get up even if she wanted to.

A new monster forms, pulling itself out of the puddle which quickly becomes a part of its body. It has black and red skin, looking like a hot piece of charcoal. It lays on its knees, looking small, and Usagi feels hopeful for a moment.

The moment of hopefulness passes when the creature stands up and cracks its back. It lets out a sigh of relief and stands and its full height, which was clearly taller than both Usagi and Naru. It looks even taller from Usagi's position on the floor. It cackles, a wicked smile on its face. It bows at its creator, then jumps into the air and lands right in front of Naru.

The impact of the landing on the ground makes the wall shake. The broken wall begins to breaks even more, parts of the wall drops and smashes on the floor.

Naru gasps.

"You're so disrespectful," the new monster says as it looks at Naru. It glances down at Usagi, who thankfully closed her eyes the moment before, then back at Naru. "Your fat little friend couldn't even stay awake." It laughs, its skin dripping with each giggle. "What a fool. Oh well, at least I can focus on you, now."

Naru tries to push herself away from the wall, away from the monster, but the monster grabs her throat and slams her against the wall. Naru screams, her body jerking out on reflex.

"No, no," Naru gasps, trying to loosen the grip on her neck. With each attempt, the skin drips between her fingers and hardens. Naru's eyes widen in fear as her fingers stick together. She's stuck.

Usagi breathes in, and pushes herself off the ground, pain cracking throughout her body. She grabs the hand choking Naru and tries to rip it away, tries to claw at the creature's face. Tries, tries, tries. It does nothing but make it growl, and tighten its grip on Naru's neck. Using its other hand, it grabs Usagi and throws her into the wall.

"You're even more of an idiot than this one is. I would've made your death quick and easy for you." The monster snorts, and Usagi can feel the goo hardening around her, holding her in place against the wall. "I'll make it painful, now. I'll make you scream."

Naru's gasps for air get more desperate, drool drips from her chin, mixed with the blood from her nose. Usagi screams. Her pulse races, everything burns. She has to save Naru, she can't let her die. Naru's eyes are beginning to roll, and her body is losing its fight.

Pain runs throughout Usagi, starting from her stomach and racing throughout her body. It all gathers in her forehead. It's excruciating, but Naru probably is in even more pain. Usagi does the only thing she thinks to do, and focuses on the pain, and then she feels nothing.

* * *

It takes Usagi a moment to come to.

All she can see is white. Every direction she turns to look, it's white. Endless white. It goes on forever and ever. It is comforting. Usagi's body feels light, the muscles in her body relaxed. She could be floating. Maybe she is.

Naru flashes in front of her. An image of Naru in front of her, frozen in time. Even without the movement, Usagi can see the tension in Naru's body. She can see how Naru's eyes have begun to roll back into her head, how Naru's arms just hit her sides as she loses the fight in her.

"NARU-CHAN!" Usagi screams, and runs forward. She doesn't get closer to the image of Naru. It's not as if she even moved. Her eyes wet, and she covers her face. "Naru-chan," she whimpers.

"Do you want to help her?"

"Yes!" Usagi jumps and answers quickly, then looks around. She thought she was alone, but in the endlessness of white, she can see a form from far away. Her eyes can't adjust enough to see it as anything more than a distortion in the whiteness.

"Do you think you can?" The form says, and Usagi nods, clenching her fists. "You're not strong enough," said the voice, bluntly.

Usagi stares. She couldn't even get the monster away from Naru. What can she do? A tear falls down her cheek, and lands on her stomach. Usagi numblessly realizes she is naked. Somehow, it doesn't bother her. It doesn't matter. After a second, she swallows back a hiccup and says, "Please. I... I don't know how but I want to help."

"This happened before," the voice says longingly. Usagi finds the voice comforting, familiar, but she can't place where. She feels as if she can trust it.

"When?"

"You'll remember eventually." The voice sounds so nostalgic.

Usagi stays silent, trying to get a better look at the form. It stays blurred, distorting the whiteness behind it.

"But this time, you'll be able to help."

Usagi nods slowly, a determined look on her face.

"You have power. This time you have power. You can help."

The voice is closer, and Usagi can feel the finger touch Usagi's stomach. "Your power, you hold it here." She trails to Usagi's chest, placing a finger over her heart. "And right here is why you have power. It's right here. Summon it, direct it," The finger goes from her chest, up her neck, against her jaw, then in the center of the forehead, "here."

"How?" Usagi asks, and her throat is so dry.

"Focus on how much you want to save her. You need to focus like nothing else in this world matters. Focus on how much you want to save your best friend."

Usagi focuses. She closes her eyes and thinks about how much she wants to save Naru, focusing on how terrified Naru looked. Something painful and powerful rushes through her body, coming together in her forehead. It gathers, getting more and more painful by the second. It huts worse than it did to be thrown into the wall. It hurts more than having to stand on possibly broken bones. It hurts _so_ much, until it bursts.

"Good luck, Usagi." The voice sounds far away. "You'll do better this time around."


	5. Chapter 5

Naru is sure she's going to die. She's going to die from the lack of air, or maybe that monster will break her neck. It'll probably be a broken neck. She never did know how someone was supposed to get help when their neck was broken.

Either way, she's sure she's going to die.

Her gasps for air are painfully desperate, her body jerking wildly until it slows down. Her fingers are still stuck to the goo, but there is no more fight in trying to pull them apart. It hurts so much.

"Maa," Naru wheezes as her eyes roll back, her chest tightening, ready to explode. A bitter part of Naru hopes when her insides explode, it'll ruin the monsters clothes.

"No!" Usagi screams, it's so painfully loud, it hurts Naru's ears so much, it's hurts enough to force Naru to notice the pain even as she begins to lose consciousness. Did Usagi stab her in her eardrums?

Then there is a light, a light so bright. It's brighter than fire, brighter than the stars, brighter than the sun, brighter than starring directly at the sun. It burns Naru's eyes as if she stared at the sun for days on end. It hurts so bad.

But she can breathe.

Naru blinks after a long few moments, and realizes that air isn't a faraway concept anymore. She can breathe, she isn't being choked, and her hands are on the floor. When did she fall to the ground? After a few seconds, her vision returns and the goo monster is no more.

"Usagi-chan?" Naru chokes out, fear clawing at her insides. If the monster is gone, it must have Usagi. Usagi is _hurt_ , and it's because Naru couldn't stay awake!

"Naru-chan!"

Naru turns to find Usagi but it... isn't Usagi. She's too tall, too thin, her hair is too long and the wrong color, she's wearing the wrong outfit. It looks nothing like Usagi. But the girl is crying behind her mask, blue eyes shining in a way that Naru has only seen on Usagi.

Slowly, she's able to see the similarities. The girl has Usagi's eye shape, her fat cheeks, and tears are falling down her face the same way it does when Usagi cries. Her posture is similar, a defensive way of holding herself, the way Usagi does whenever someone is about to criticize her. She has the same bangs, and the hair is a higher up and larger version of her own odangos. It looks like Usagi in so many ways, but is also so different.

"Usa...?" Naru says, and is given her answer when the girl hugs her.

"I was so scared!" Usagi cries into Naru's shoulder, shaking. Her voice is odd, having an slight echo to it, but it has the Usagi Tsukino charm to it. "It was choking you, you were going to die."

"Where'd it go?" Naru whispers, her throat too raw to speak too loudly.

A loud smash gets the girls attentions. The mom-monster is looking on in anger, "What did you do to it?" She growls, slamming her fist against some glass. "What was that flash of light?"

The monster stares down Usagi, who shrinks back closer to Naru, "Um...!"

"Who are you?" She demands, her hair dripping.

Usagi looks at Naru and a determined look flashes across her face. She stands up, stumbling a little but she manages. "I... I..." She looks around, for something, someone to give her the answer. No one does. Usagi takes a deep breath, and shouts, "I am... Sailor Moon!"

A curtain rod slams to the ground, and the full moon shines on Sailor Moon.

"In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

The monster stares at Sailor Moon, taking her all in. Then she begins to laugh.

"Foolish. I'll have you ripped to pieces." She takes a few steps back, past a small clock that read 11:49, and grabs a large diamond. "Rise, my soldiers. Rise and kill Sailor Moon."

Naru clenches her fists as Sailor Moon tenses. Her body language screams fear, ready to run and cry.

 _Tick, tick, tick._

The only response the monster get is a low groan from a girl near her. She isn't strong enough to pull herself off the ground.

"Useless!" The monster shouts, and kicks the girl.

"Hey!" Sailor Moon exclaims and takes a step forward. "Leave her alone!"

"Shut up! I guess I'll have to deal with this myself." She sets the diamond back on the table and cracks her right wrist, and pulls it off completely. She squeezes it as if it's clay with her left hand and makes it into a ball.

Sailor Moon covers her mouth, her cheeks tinting green in disgust.

"I'll skin you alive," The monster laughs, and throws the ball of skin into the air. It splits into five pieces and sharpens into mini knives. They spin in the air for a few moments before shooting in Sailor Moon's direction.

Sailor Moon glances back at Naru, who had already begun crawling behind a pillar, before jumping out of the way, in the direction opposite of Naru.

One of the knives smashes into the wall, while the other four turn and begin to follow Sailor Moon.

"GAH!" She screams, and keeps running and ducking. She's much faster than she was before, not having the stress of extra weight on her body, but it's still not enough. One knife slices her arm, and another goes into her leg.

"I can't believe I have a wannabe superhero to entertain me!" The monster laughs as Sailor Moon trips, barely avoiding a knife headed straight towards her neck. "My, oh my! This night has turned out better than I expected!"

The final knife hits Sailor Moon in her shoulder, causing her to scream out in pain and smash into a pillar. She grabs the knife and holds onto the skin around it. Warm blood begins to escape from the new wound, staining her white fuku. The blood spreads as Sailor Moon presses against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Stupid little girl," the monster smiles. She grabs one of the watches out of a broken case with her newly formed hand and stands far enough away from the Sailor Moon where she couldn't throw a punch, but close enough the girl could see the time on the watch. "You see this? It's 11:57. You've lost."

Goo drips wildly from the monsters face, small sharp needles forming as they fall onto the ground. They bounce back up into the air, and make an arc, aimed directly at Sailor Moon.

"Goodbye, Sailor Moon." She smiles, and the needles shoot forward.

"No!" Sailor Moon screeches, pushing herself back against the pillar. "No!" The red jews in her odangos shine and her screams are amplified, and echo throughout the store. The glass in the store cracks and shatters into small pieces.

The monster covers her ears in pain, her body shaking as the supersonic waves went through her. Her needles drop to the floor inches away from Sailor Moon. The monster squeezes her head in pain once the waves have stopped, leaving only the echoing of her ears. She turns to look at Sailor Moon, a murderous look on her face as unhuman blood drips from her ears

"I'll kill you!"

Pain shoots through Sailor Moon, right on her forehead. The tiara on her forehead is so hot, it's burning, it feels like her skin is going to melt. She grabs the tiara from her forehead and throws it forward, far away from her fragile skin.

The tiara shines and changes shape moments before cutting through the monsters stomach, the dark blood splashing on the ground as it exits her body through her back. The tiara took out a good portion of the monsters stomach, leaving a big hole with bright glitter.

"On a human, that would've worked." The monster says, a smirk forming on her face. "If I was a human, I'd fall over because you snapped my spinal cord." Her smirk is fully formed, taking up more than half of her face. "A human can't live through something chopping through their insides. Such important organs gone. But I can."

The glitter begins to glow.

"I can just grow this baa _aaaaaaaaa_ —" blood begins to pour out of the monster's mouth. The blood is bright red, resembling the blood that pooled down Sailor Moon's shoulder. The monster clutches her stomach in pain, and a scream rips from her throat as the glitter brightens. She falls over onto her side, and begins to choke on her blood. Her eyes begin to lose focus, but she manages to glance in the direction of the watch.

11:59.

Her chest stops moving and her skin loses its color. She's dead.

Sailor Moon lets out a sound, unable to comprehend whether or not she should be happy that this monster has died. All she does is look at the women on the floor, and waits for them to begin standing up because she _won_ and they're not going to die.

But no one gets up. No one pulls themselves up and says they're so glad to be alive. No one moves.

Panic begins to bubble, and Sailor Moon looks into the dead monsters eyes. _You've lost_ , they say, before she turns to a pile of bloody dust.

"Naru-chan, no one is waking up!" She screams. Nearby, a woman's skin is drying up hideously fast. She looks like a skeleton with skin pulled tightly around her.

Naru stands up from behind a jewelry case and looks around in horror. It's still 11:59, they still have time. _Why aren't they getting up?_

Then Naru notices it. The diamond. The one the monster was holding. She manages to run over to the table and grab the diamond. She throws it to the ground with all the force she has.

It smashes into pieces, easily.

Naru laughs breathlessly and leans against the counter. "Not even a real diamond."

A burst of energy fills the room from the broken diamond and begins flying back into the bodies of the women on the ground with speed it makes the girls dizzy.

"Naru-chan, go get your mama!" Sailor Moon steadies herself, and pushes herself up. "I'll get these people awake and out of here!"

Naru stares at Sailor Moon, but all she can see is Usagi Tsukino. Her best friend.

"I... yes." She says slowly. "Yes!" She says again, more sure of herself and her belief in Usagi, and runs down to the basement to get her mother.

* * *

Naru and Sailor Moon met back up in Naru's room later that night.

Naru found her mother tied up in the basement and carried her back into her own bed, while Sailor Moon used told everyone to go home and to go to sleep. No one asked any questions. It felt quicker than it actually was.

"That... was something," Sailor Moon says as she takes a seat on the bed.

"Usagi!" Naru shouts, and Sailor Moon flinches. "You're still bleeding!"

Sailor Moon shifts her posture to a defensive one as Naru gets under her bed to get her first aid. As she pulls it from under her bed, Naru notices the ruffles under Sailor Moon's skirt, along with the white stockings, makes it impossible to look up. A part of Naru is relieved.

Naru sets the kit on the bed and looks over Sailor Moon and her injuries. Only two knives were still inside of Sailor Moon. She grabs a hold of the one that entered her thigh and pulls it out. Sailor Moon howls in pain, putting a gloved fist in her mouth.

Naru squints and rips at the stockings so she can take a better look at the wound.

"It's a very shallow wound!" Naru says and begins cleaning it out. By the time she places a Band-Aid on it, it already looks like it's forming a scab. "Now, time for your shoulder."

"Naruuuuu, no!" Sailor Moon whines, but let's Naru pull down the fabric after she removes the knife. She hisses as Naru cleans it and the surrounding blood.

"Usagi, stop moving." Naru says, and begins to bandage up the wound.

"I'm trying!"

"I know," Naru says softly and pats Sailor Moon on her head, "You did a good job."

Sailor Moon flushes and looks at Naru's bloody face. "What are we going to tell your mom?"

"We'll figure that out tomorrow after we find out how much people remember," Naru says quietly. She pats Usagi's newly bandaged shoulder and grabs a wet tissue to clean her own face. "How do you get out of that outfit and go back to normal?"

Sailor Moon stands up and looks in Naru's mirror. "I'm not sure?" She says and looks over herself. Her hair is silver blond and down her hips, rather than the usually shoulder length blond hair she has. Her face looks like a completely different shape. She is thin, so small compared to before. "I don't think I can stay like this," Sailor Moon says regretfully, "My mama will ask questions."

And then the transformation releases itself and there stands Usagi Tsukino, back to her old self. In her hand is a small brooch. "Wha..?"

Naru blinks, and shakes her head. "I'm too tired. Let's... talk about this all tomorrow."

Slowly, Usagi nods her head in agreement and the two girls climb into bed.

Usagi falls asleep in seconds. Naru lies next to her, staring up at her ceiling. She knows this all isn't over. It isn't a one-time thing.

"Oh Usagi, we've got something big coming." Naru whispers into the darkness.

* * *

And it's all done! Sorry for the long wait, I was busy with school! I hope this was worth the wait.


End file.
